Archive for May 10, 2008

I can’t believe I’ve only posted to this blog twice this week. I’ve been extremely distracted. A lot of thoughts are popping into and out of my head. Thoughts about my career, my friends, my hobbies, my passions, just about everything in my life. This seems to happen to me a few times a year, particularly during the seasonal transitions from winter to spring and spring to summer. I hope to get back into the swing of things next week.

It seems that I am constantly receiving coupons in the mail from retail stores. In the past week the mailman has delivered coupons for Macy’s, JCPenney’s, Bath & Body Works and New York & Company. I know that the retail sector is getting hit hard and my current stack of coupons seems to be proof of that.

In the past I received standard discounts: on average anywhere from 15 – 20% off my entire bill, but in the last week I’ve received at least one coupon for $10 off any $30 purchase and two coupons for $10 off any $10 purchase.

Now I know the stores hope to lure customers in with coupons. They hope you’ll walk in the door expecting to get something for free and walk out with $20 – $50 worth of stuff you never intended to buy. I have a feeling stores make quite a bit of money off these types of discounts, otherwise why would they provide them?

Last month I received a coupon for a free Bath & Body Works signature collection item with any purchase. I bought a small tube of chap stick and received $9.50 worth of free shower gel.

Yesterday, I drove over to the mall and found just about every item in JCPenney’s and Macy’s on sale. Two tank tops originally priced at $12.99 were on sale for $7.99. I had an additional coupon for $10 off any $10 purchase so I ended up buying two tank tops for a little over $6. Not bad for something I intended to purchase before summer began.

So is it just me or do the discounts seem quite substantial right now?